Two brothers are among four men recently arrested and charged with robbery and various assault crimes for allegedly kidnapping and beating a young man in St. Charles, Missouri. The incident was reportedly a dispute over a debt the alleged victim owed one of the men from the sale of a shotgun.

According to police reports, the assault crimes were committed last week when the brothers arrived at the home of their 22-year-old cousin. They were allegedly wielding a gun and threatened to shoot him if he did not get in their vehicle. He complied.

After the man was seated in the front seat of the SUV, the brothers allegedly bound his arms and wrists with duct tape and drove him to a residence. The other two men followed the SUV in a second vehicle.

The reason for the alleged kidnapping is believed to be a $520 debt owed to one of the brothers by his cousin, who had sold a shotgun for that amount on behalf of the man.

When they arrived at the residence, the man was reportedly forced inside the home, where the four men allegedly bound his legs with duct tape and forced him into the basement. There, the man claims, they beat him with various weapons and threatened to kill him if he did not pay him the $520. They then left the house, and the man was able to escape.

Now the men are facing charges of assault, kidnapping, robbery and armed criminal action. It is not yet known whether the men will plead not guilty to the various crimes with which they are charged.

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "4 men charged in kidnapping, torture of St. Charles man over $520 debt," Susan Weich, Dec. 29, 2011